


Caught in the Crosshairs

by EscapeTheVault



Series: Caught in the Crosshairs [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Deathclaw, Vault 111
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:00:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 14
Words: 17,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23012143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EscapeTheVault/pseuds/EscapeTheVault
Summary: Rose has thawed out and oh boy does she have a lot to learn.***NOTE***The rape/non-con warning isn't for any situation that actually happens in the fic. It's only there because Cait's background is referenced.
Relationships: Robert Joseph MacCready/Female Sole Survivor
Series: Caught in the Crosshairs [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1653847
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is gonna be another fic with a LOT of swearing, so be warned.

“Are you SERIOUS? What the actual fuck is that?” Rose spat the words out with as much disdain as she could manage. Dogmeat whimpered and cocked his head. “I’m sorry, boy. I’m not mad at you.”

Overwhelming nausea washed over her. She scrambled to get out of the power armor, stumbling backwards. She fell to her hands and knees and vomited. Groaning, she wiped the dirt from her hands on her jumpsuit and climbed to her feet. She threw one last glance and the giant creature in front of her and pulled open the door to the Museum of Freedom.

“GARVEY,” she shrieked. “What the fuck- I just got attacked by some sort of freaky dinosaur. A little warning would have been nice.”

“What’s a dinosaur?” Preston looked genuinely confused. “Is that another name for a deathclaw?”

“THAT THING IS CALLED A DEATHCLAW?” Rose rubbed her eyes. “This is a mess. Put me back in the cryo. I have been thawed for less than a day. This is almost more of a nightmare than when the bombs fell.”

Preston looked mildly annoyed but didn’t seem to want to antagonize the situation. “Well I’m glad you’re on our side.”

“I’m sorry, same. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. Today’s just really been a lot. I’ll talk about it later.” Rose took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “So what’s next for you guys?”

“Mama Murphy has been telling us about a place nearby where we can settle in and try to live a little nicer. We’re heading to Sanctuary. It should be nearby.”

“You mean she saw it in one of her visions while she was stoned out of her gourd!” Marcy sneered.

“Hey now, hey now. Let’s all keep a level head about this. Marcy, do you have any better ideas?” Sturges pushed off of the wall he was leaning against and crossed his arms. “No? Then I say we go with Mama Murphy and our new friend here. If she’s game.”

“I’m game.” Rose smiled sadly. “I’ve already lived there once, it’ll be nice to live there again.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * 

A week later, Sturges had managed to piece together a generator strong enough to light a couple of houses and a few street lights. The ruined houses in the neighborhood provided more than enough scrap to patch up the walls of the other houses. She’d taken to helping Marcy grow some of the mutated foods that were completely new to her- the tato was probably the oddest. Marcy was basically an incorrigible bitch, but Rose noticed she’d softened slightly to Mama Murphy. Codsworth was as ecstatic as a robot could be to have new things to tidy up and people to look after. She avoided the old house as much as possible- the remaining and newly-made beds went in all of the houses but she had Sturges do any and all work on that particular house.

Today, Rose decided to make the neighborhood a little more relaxed. She had spent hours dragging furniture from the houses and backyards and putting it in and around the houses on the cul de sac. She even started building a bar counter for fun. She knew she should be looking for Shaun first and foremost but she had a nagging bad feeling about him, and these people needed her, too. She was stuck, but had no idea how badly, yet.


	2. Nan-ni Shimasu-ka?

Rose felt terrible for thinking it, but not being awoken by an alarm clock or crying baby was kinda nice. Codsworth had checked on her a few times and she’d been half awake but then rolled over and went back to sleep. A pang of guilt hit her- she should be out there looking for Shaun and she didn’t even know where to start. Mama Murphy had something about Diamond City and a heart and Rose had no idea what that even remotely meant.

She rolled out of bed and rubbed her eyes. Sturges had been kind and understanding enough to build her her own shack…. In the middle of the river. He’d barely even batted an eye at the request- maybe he enjoyed the challenge, or maybe he had an underwhelming lack of curiosity. They’d managed to furnish it rather nicely, even fixing up some of her (now) antique lamps from the house. She didn’t know how he did it, but he was an absolutely genius when i came to anything that needed to be made.

She walked out onto what she called her front porch and surveyed Sanctuary. The destroyed houses were almost cleared off of their foundations. There were a few more settlers that she didn’t recognize that must have heard the radio signal. Later, she thought. She glanced over at the water-damaged notebook on her side table. Dr. Nelson had suggested she and Nate keep them. She’d gotten in two entries before the cryo pods and she’d been working on it reluctantly since thawing. Each soaked page was its own slap in the face. Nate would have wanted her to keep up with it, though, so she would.

Later, she thought.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Miss Rose,” Codsworth said in his ‘I don’t like this’ voice. “I do hope that this Diamond City lives up to its name and isn’t some sort of hive of villainy. You seem to be having rather bad luck with that sort of thing.”

“We, Codsworth. We keep having rather bad luck with that sort of thing. You’re right here with me.”

“Yes, but I am following your lead, mum.”

“Alright, fine, Codsworth.” She rolled her eyes at him. “I guess you’re right. But if that’s where I’m going to find Shaun, or at least information, I think we owe it to him and to Nate to try.”`

“Yes, of course, mum.” He moved in a way that looked somewhat like a nod. She gestured for him to follow. Codsworth hummed most of the time, making Rose giggle occasionally. Even 210 years later, he remembered Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra were her favorites, and they sang together for quite a bit. Rose didn’t have much ammo, so they did their best to stay in the shadows and duck behind debris whenever anyone sketchy looking came near.

The walk took the better part of the day with all of the stops. When they finally got there and turned the corner, Rose realized where they were.

“Diamond City is a BASEBALL DIAMOND?” She exhaled dramatically. It was another moment before she noticed the woman standing outside shouting at a speaker box.

“You can’t just not let me in! I live here, for crying out loud! Let me in, Danny!” The woman scowled and looked over at Rose. She waved her over so she could whisper. “Hey, you want in here, right? Play along, okay?”

“Okay….”

“What’s that, you say? You’re a trader? And you have enough goods to keep the general goods store stocked for a month?” She winked at Rose. “Hear that, Danny? Are you going to be the one that explains to McDonough that you let this get away?”

“Okay, okay, I get it Piper! Geez. I’ll let you in.” The voice from the speaker box (Danny?) was clearly exasperated. Seconds later, the giant door started slowly lifting.

“Hey, thanks.” The woman called Piper grinned at her. “Heads up though- McDonough isn’t going to be happy about this.”

“I’m sure I can-”

“Piper Wright!” A stout man in his forties was waiting for them when the gate was open. “How did you get back in here? Sullivan!”

Rose slowly backed away as the man who she guessed was McDonough went off. She made eye contact with Piper, who subtly waved to her to go inside. She and Codsworth booked it into the field. When they walked in, Rose stopped to take it all in. Dozens of tiny shacks had been built inside. Some had even been turned into shops, and the entire field was bustling with residents. They slowly descended the stairs. The shopkeeps mostly just shouted about their wares but she did get a few odd glances, probably because of the vault suit. There was a butcher, a medical office, a chem shop, even a barber. And in the center was a place called Power Noodles. Rose lit up.

“Codsworth, noodles!” She clapped her hands in excitement. Soon, her face fell. “Oh no, what if noodles changed, too? Like they’re fried worms now, or something?”

“Nan-ni shimasu-ka?” The protectron behind the bar startled her.

“Umm… what?” Rose tried to remember any of the Japanese Nate had learned and taught her. “I’d like some noodles.”

“Nan-ni shimasu-ka?”

“Just say yes. It’s the only thing he understands.” The woman on the stool next to her chimed in. “To be fair, they’re the best noodles in the Commonwealth.”

“Nan-ni shimasu-ka?”

‘Uh.. yes.” The protectron Made a high-pitched whining sound as it wobbled over to a boiling pot. He awkwardly scooped some noodles into a bowl and turned around and brought the bowl over to her. He dropped it on the counter, splashing a little bit over the sides, and then dropped a pair of chopsticks in it. Codsworth floated over to her to inspect the noodles.

“Well, mum. At least it doesn’t look like they’re fried worms now. At least one thing stayed constant.”


	3. Goodneighbor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose makes a few new friends

“Miss Rose.”

“Yes, Codsworth?” Rose rolled her eyes. “Let me guess- you’re not thrilled with the idea of going to Goodneighbor? I don’t want to go either but it’s where one of Jenna and Richard’s places has got to be. It wasn’t Goodneighbor then but it looks like they line up on my Pip-Boy map. If it’s still there, it’ll be the nicest place to live in the Commonwealth. They own two of the units.”

“Miss Rose, I don’t believe I ever met Miss Jenna or Mr. Richard. Were they as nice as you and Sir?” Rose put up her hand to stop him. They were approaching the Common and she noticed multiple scrawled warnings. She looked around for any sign of danger, then motioned for Codsworth to follow her.

“Oh they were wonderful. Jenna was my sister and Richard was a friend of my brother’s. I think you would have liked them both, actually.” Rose smiled wistfully. Then she noticed they were coming up on the swan boat pond. She gestured for Codsworth to look. “Remember those?”

“It even looks like some of the swan boats are intact, mum.” Codsworth sounded almost giddy. “Look at that one there, though….”

One of the swan boats suddenly lifted out of the water, attached to a massive hunk of green flesh. Rose gasped.

“Time to go!” Rose skipped into a run, stealth be damned. Codsworth zoomed into action behind her. The green mass in the pond let out a gargled roar behind them. They passed a decrepit restaurant with more giant green men- at least they weren’t as big as the one in the pond. “Are these the super mutants everyone keeps telling me about?”

“Yes, mum, I believe that is what they’re called. Can we talk about this later?” She wasn’t sure Codsworth could be panicked but that’s sure what it sounded like.

“Sounds good, Codsworth!” They rounded a corner. “Look! A sign for Goodneighbor! We’re almost there!”

Ignoring two corpses on the sidewalk, they slowed as they ran up to the gate. The neon sign was a sight for sore eyes, and Rose took a deep breath before pulling open the heavy metal gate. There was a mercenary-type fellow waiting just inside but she ignored him…. Until he stepped out in front of them.

“Hey now… You’re new here. Gotta travel with insurance and I can get you insurance.”

“Cool story dude. Step aside or insurance is going to be the last thing you’re worried about.” She smirked at him. A motion behind the man caught her attention.

“Finn, come one. Is this how we treat our guests?” A ghoul man in a Revolutionary war coat walked up to them. “You know all are welcome here, without hassle.”

“Yes, Hancock,” the man named Finn responded. The ghoul reached out and took Finn by the shoulder. And then repeatedly stabbed him.

“Now why’d you make me have to go and do that, Finn?” The patriotic ghoul looked up at her. “Sorry about that. Name’s Hancock.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Nothing personal, but you’re wearing THAT coat and I’m supposed to believe your name is Hancock? Next thing you’re gonna tell me your first name is John.” She gestured to Finn’s body. “Thanks for dealing with that shmuck though.”

Hancock cocked his head to the side with a smartass grin. “You don’t have to call me John. Hancock’s fine. I’m the mayor of this fine town. What’re your names?”

“Rose. And this is Codsworth.” She noticed another person come slightly out of the shadow of the street and lean against the brick. It was a leather-clad armored woman with the side of her head shaved. She looked back at Hancock. “So you’re the mayor, eh? What do I need to know?”

“Just remember who the mayor is, and be good to everyone else here. First drink at The Third Rail is on me.” Hancock tipped his hat to her before walking away and entering the Old State House. The woman behind him followed close behind. When the door closed behind them, Rose turned to face Codsworth.

“I actually rather like him, mum.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Rose walked down the hallway of the Third Rail slowly. She tried to crane her neck to better hear the conversation happening at the end.

“Why don’t you take your girlfriend and get out of here?”

“The only reason I’m not gutting you right now is that we don’t want a war with Goodneighbor. If I catch wind of you operating in Gunner territory again, I won’t be so diplomatic.” The sound of footsteps startled Rose and she looked at a random piece of art on the wall as two angry-looking muscular men walked past her. She waited until they were out of sight, then walked the rest of the way down the hall. A gruff man in a long coat and a grimy hat was on a couch with his head in his hand and a drink in the other. She glanced behind her. After giving him a moment, she stepped into the room. He looked up, rolled his eyes, and looked back down.

“Listen lady, if you’re here to preach about Atom or tell me some sob story, you’re in the wrong place.”

“Alright, mum, let’s go.” Codsworth turned to leave. Rose stuck her arm out in the way to stop him.

“Guess it’s a good thing I’m not here for either of those things, then, isn’t it?” She smirked. “Listen my robot here doesn’t much like getting shot at so I need a hired gun. You in? Those two scary dudes made you sound like a little bit of a badass.”

“Name’s MacCready. If you got the caps I’m in. 250. No budging.”

“Everything’s negotiable.” She straightened up and crossed her arms. “200.”

“Fine, I guess.” He sighed. “Don’t make me regret this.”

“YOU. Don’t make me regret this. It’s been one big fiasco since I thawed out.”

“Wait what?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll tell you on the way to Sanctuary.” She jerked her thumb towards the stairs.

“Deal.”


	4. Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose gets by with a little help from her friends

“Thanks guys. This means a lot.” Rose punched the elevator button and then ran out of the security post. She hopped on the elevator platform and squeezed her eyes shut as the alarm echoed- hearing it the first time was bad enough and here she was, back at Vault 111. Hancock, Piper, MacCready, Sturges, and Preston had agreed to help her get the bodies out of the pods so they could be buried properly. Hopefully it hadn’t been too long since they’d thawed out and this, while painful and gross, would be easy enough.

The screech of the platform reaching the bottom of the shaft almost made her gag. She’d only been out a week and the vault smelled the same still. The elevator gate lifted, and the small group stood for a second, watching her walk out and up the staircase. Hancock was the first to follow her, looking all around at everything with increasing disgust. Preston wasn’t far behind him.

“Man, you were in here for 200 years?” Preston reached out and touched the still-cold handrail. Piper coughed from the cold as she walked up behind him. The rest of the crew reluctantly followed.

“Yep.” Rose didn’t look behind her. “Come on. The pods are down this hallway.”

“Pods? Like you were contained in a small space for that long?” MacCready sounded nervous. “I grew up living next to a vault and it wasn’t a pleasant experience, but it was very different than this.”

“From what I’ve read, most of these things were experiments the residents didn’t know about. Something tells me this by far was not the worst one. Not even top 20.” Rose kept walking without looking back.

“Well if this is 111, does that mean that there are at least 111 of them? Do the numbers mean something? Like is Vault 69….. Nevermind.” Hancock chuckled.

“Now I don’t mean to rain on everyone’s parades but let’s remember why we’re here.” Sturges was ever the voice of reason and rationality. “We got a job to do and we’re going to do that job for Rose here. We can talk about all of this later.”

Rose paused. She glanced back slightly, then hit the control switch to open the door to the cryo pod room where she and Nate had been. She took a deep breath and nervously stepped in. MacCready stepped in behind her quickly, reaching out and squeezing her shoulder. “Hey, we’re here.”

“Thanks.” Rose smiled half-heartedly, then continued down the walkway to Nate’s pod. She paused, then opened it. “This is him. My dream. Taken away from me by the war, then taken away from me by Vault-Tec, then taken away from me by our mystery gunman.”

“Well now, we’re going to give these people the peace they deserve.” Piper smiled sadly. “This is good of you, Blue.”

“I hope.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

A week later, Rose went across the little bridge to visit the grave sites. She and her friends had buried the victims of Vault 111 surrounded by trees near the little creek that ran behind the neighborhood they had all loved so much. They’d planted some hubflowers (the only flowers Rose had been able to find) that were growing up quickly. She stood there for what seemed like an hour before a twig snapping behind her snapped her out of her daydreaming. MacCready stopped a respectful distance behind her.

“I was married once. Her name was Lucy. She was everything.” He sighed. “Son named Duncan. We were holed up in a metro station. Got attacked by ferals, and she was ripped apart in front of me. All I could do was grab Duncan and go.”

“It was good of you to get him out of there.” She turned to face him. “I can’t even imagine what that was like for you.”

“Yes, you can.” He frowned. “Of all people, you’re the only one I know who might have any idea what it’s like.”

“I couldn’t save my son, though.” Rose shrugged.

“Exactly. You couldn’t. You were trapped in a box. If you hadn’t been, I know you would have done anything you could. Do you know that, though? Will you let yourself know that? And give yourself a break?”

“I’m not doing enough to find Shaun.”

“Maybe. But look at the people you’re helping. You saved Preston, Sturges, Mama Murphy, Jun, and Marcy.” MacCready smiled at her. “I gotta get back. I’m helping Sturges build your bar.”

“Can’t wait to see it.” She nodded at him as he walked away. “And MacCready?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”


	5. Bullet for My Valentine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to rescue Nick Valentine

“You ever met this Nick Valentine?” Rose tapped her fingernails on the side of her gun. “What kinda trouble should we expect picking him up?

“Never met him but by all accounts he’s a good guy.” MacCready shrugged. “I doubt Diamond City would let him stick around if he weren’t. Not that McDonough’s got great judgement. But if this Valentine guy was unsavory, wouldn’t Mama Murphy have seen that as part of her vision?”

“Oh you believe her now?” Rose giggled. “Yesterday you were rolling your eyes so hard you were getting in your cardio for the week.”

“My what?” MacCready raised his eyebrow. “Is that a food?”

“It’s… a type of exercise. Nevermind, it’s not important. So what changed?”

“I don’t know. What was it that she said about a quarry? That’s just so specific. Though what does she mean by him being different than what we expect?”

“I don’t know. Do you think he might be a ghoul like Hancock?” Rose sighed. “Ugh, let’s just go get him. Ellie thinks he might have gone to Park Street Station, so here we are. Hopefully we can get in and out without too much gunfire.”

They slipped through the door of the station. Before Rose even had a chance to fire her pistol, MacCready neutralized the three Triggermen in the entryway. She threw a glance over her shoulder. He grinned. She pretended to be exasperated, and headed further into the station.

There weren’t as many Triggermen as she had expected. The two of them disposed of them relatively easily, with the Triggermen only getting a couple of shots off in return. She was intrigued when they came to a vault door- the giant 114 slightly surprised her- she wondered if maybe Hancock had been right about the numbers. She also wondered if the vault they were about to enter was as terrible as or worse than 111. She plugged in her Pip-Boy and winced as the giant door slowly screeched open.

“Is that you, Malone?’” The speaker had an undeniably South Boston accent and she rolled her eyes. ‘It’s been 200 years. How does anyone still have such a strong accent?’ she thought. They snuck down the ramp that extended towards them and rounded a corner just to come face to face with the owner of the voice. She placed the pistol against his chest and fired a single shot.

“You’re getting better at that, you know,” MacCready piped up. “Especially considering you’ve only been out for a couple of weeks.”

“If you say so…..” She trailed off as they entered the atrium. She stopped dead in her tracks as she looked around. “Is this… is this what other vaults look like? Did people actually get to have lives in these? You said you grew up next to a vault. Did it look like this?”

“I don’t know. I never went in it, to be honest. We just constantly heard screams coming from it,”

“Oh my god.” She was horrified. “I’m sorry, I had no idea….”

“That was a long time ago. Before the Lone Wanderer came and cleared out the Super Mutants.”

“The what?” She turned to face him, puzzled. “The Lone Wanderer? Who’s that?”

“I’ll tell you about her when we’re not in the middle of a rescue mission.”

“Okay, fair.” She turned back around. “Hey wait. Look at that window! There's someone in that room!”

Sure enough, there was a figure behind the class waving to get their attention. There was also a man sitting in a folding chair right outside the vault door next to it. She pointed to the man. MacCready aimed, and she looked away as he fired. “Got him.”

They ran up the stairs on the left side of the atrium. Rose stepped around the body slumped over the folding chair and up to the terminal on the wall. Fortunately, it wasn’t password protected and opening the office door was a cinch. She was not, however, prepared for meeting Nick Valentine. He was a busted-up looking old synth in a torn and dirty trench coat and grimy hat. He had glowing yellow robotic eyes, and there was a gaping hole in the left side of his neck.

Mama Murphy had been right- this wasn’t even remotely what she had expected.

“Gotta love the irony of the reverse damsel-in-distress scenario here. So what brings our damsel all the way out here?” Nick looked between her and MacCready.

“Long story short, I need you to find someone. It’s complicated.”

“Well, complicated is my specialty. But first, we need to get the heck outta here. Follow me, I know the easiest way out. Fortunately for us, these boneheads can’t think far enough ahead to have enough muscle in here to prevent a breakout.” Nick gestured for them to follow.

The “easiest” way out indeed didn’t have a lot of muscle guarding it but it sure had a lot of stairs. So many stairs that even Nick complained about how many stairs there were. After wiping out the minimal resistance, the group came to a room that Rose recognized from her own vault- intake.

“Guys, wait. There’s an unsecured terminal here. Let me check it out real quick.” She plopped down in the chair in front of it. Nick and MacCready watched her face as she navigated through a series of screens. “Wow so it looks like this vault was supposed to shove a bunch of wealthy and prominent people into shitty accomodations and watch them squirm? It even has a list of people they signed up ahead of…. Oh….”

“‘Oh’ what?” Nick wasn’t sure if he should be concerned.

“The families that Vault-Tec recruited… One of them was the Pressleys. My sister and her husband. Makes sense, one of their places is in what’s Goodneighbor now.”

“Rose… I’m sorry. But you have family out there that we can help now. And we need to get Nick out of here to do it.” MacCready sounded genuinely sad.

“You’re right. Of course, you’re right. Let’s go.” Rose’s knee popped as she stood. “Man, 200 years does a number on the joints, doesn’t it?”

“Wait, you’re over 200 years old, too? I need that story later.” Nick chuckled.

“Oh it’s all one story, believe it or not. And you’ll definitely get the story later.” She grinned and prepared herself as Nick hit the button to open the main vault door. On the other side was a heavyset man in a tux and a woman with angry eyes in a pretty sequin dress. “Wait… the fat man and the angry woman….”

“Nicky, how can you do this to me? You come into my house, you kill my guys…. What am I supposed to do about all of this?” There was no way this wasn’t Skinny Malone, which would make the angry woman Darla.

“Remember the quarry,” she barked. “And Lily June on the rocks…”

“Wait… how the fuck do you know about that? You know what, I don’t wanna know. Just get out of here…” Skinny was genuinely panicked.

“No, honey, kill ‘em!” Darla whined. “My mother was right. You gangsters are all talk!”

“Skinny Malone is putting his foot down, Darla!” Skinny looked Rose square in the eye. “You have until the count of ten- one chance to get outta here. After that, I don’t give a damn about the old days.”

“Time to go!” Nick took off. MacCready grabbed Rose’s arm and pulled her behind him. Darla cut in front of them, running after Nick.

“How can you run so fast in heels, bitch?” Rose panted. “God I have a lot to catch up on.”

They came to a ladder leading up to a manhole cover. Rose went first, her foot slipping off a rung and barely missing MacCready’s head. She recovered quickly and pushed the manhole cover aside. She pulled herself out onto the street and turned to see Darla holding a gun just inches from Nick’s face. He had his hands up above his head and Darla was shrieking something unintelligible. Rose held a finger to her lips and drew her weapon. She crept up behind Darla.

“Why’d you have to go down there and ruin everything, asshole?” Darla screeched. “I’m so tired of all this talk about the old days! I had it real good before you!”

“Maybe you should have written home more of-...” Pink mist sprayed all over his face as Rose fired a single shot into the back of Darla’s head. Darla’s body dropped to the street and Rose held back a gag.

“Sorry about the mess, Valentine,” she said.

“It’s not a problem. Reminds me of the good old days.”

Rose and MacCready groaned.


	6. Way Back Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Swapping stories

Rose watched the settlers of Sanctuary as they turned in for the night. The glow from the lights Sturges had rigged up reflected on the water of the creek where her isolated shack sat. She was up on her upstairs patio with Dogmeat who was dreaming, whimpering with twitching paws.

“You chasing steak, buddy?” She swirled the bourbon in her glass and inhaled deeply. Her life didn’t totally suck at this moment, though bourbon wasn’t exactly her first choice of hooch. Wasn’t bad as long as she didn’t catch a whiff as it went down. A glance down at her Pip-Boy let her know it was only 9 p.m. Grinning, she flipped on the radio and downed her bourbon. Barely a moment later, she heard a creak from downstairs. She sat up and looked down on the bridge leading to her front porch. She was pleasantly surprised that it was Piper. She waved her up. She chuckled at Piper’s clunk footsteps coming up the stairs. She patted the chair next to her when she walked out onto the patio. “So what can I do for you, Piper?”

“I brought drinks for you, Blue.” Piper held out a bottle of wine.

“Oh thank god,” Rose said. “I don’t hate bourbon but I’ll choose wine before it any day.”

“I’ll finish the bourbon, then. Hand it over.” Piper laughed at Rose making grabby hands as they swapped bottles. They settled back in their chairs and drank in silence for a few moments. Rose could tell there was something Piper wanted to say but couldn’t. She looked over at her and raised an eyebrow.

“Out with it.” Rose snapped her fingers. “You don’t do quiet well.”

“I just… I’m trying to wrap my head around the fact that not only did all of this ever NOT look like shit, you SAW it when it all didn’t look like shit.”

“To be fair, some of it looked like shit even before the bombs.” Rose laughed. “One of my old college friends grew up in a condemned house that looked about as good as this masterpiece of a house the boys built.”

“What’s the hardest part about all of this, besides your boy?” Piper’s journalist side was sneaking out and starting to irk Rose.

“All of it. I was frozen for two hundred years, my husband was killed in front of me, my son was kidnapped, I got attacked by a deathclaw within a matter of hours after thawing, my clothes are constantly filthy, my fingernails are constantly filthy, the food is constantly filthy, and I don’t remember the last building I was in that had a solid roof. Or walls.” Rose trailed off, out of breath. “I’m sorry, I don’t know where that came from.”

“From being frozen for two hundred years.” Piper clearly regretted asking. Rose didn’t regret answering.

“Probably.” Rose sighed. “I keep hoping I’ll wake up and this is all some terrible dream.”

“But it isn’t….” Piper’s voice was just over a whisper.

“But it isn’t.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

MacCready flicked his cigarette butt into the dirt of Starlight Drive-In and craned his neck to watch Rose. She had gathered up miscellaneous glass bottles and was chucking them into a dumpster to break them while swearing with each one.

“Fuck!” The beer bottle bounced off of the open lid. Rose muttered something under her breath and took a deep breath before picking up a wine bottle and launching it. “SHIT.”

MacCready couldn’t help but laugh quietly. Rose apparently heard him, because she whirled around and frowned when she saw him. She then walked off in a huff, shooting him a rude gesture as she left. A pang of guilt hit him in the gut and he emerged from his shaded hiding spot.

He followed her across the former parking area to where Sturges and a settler named Jackson were building their fifth shack in the settlement. Rose kicked an aluminum can out of her way and headed straight for the projection booth. He stopped in his tracks and looked up to the upstairs window. When he didn’t see her pop up, he hesitantly walked into the run-down building.

It was far less musty smelling than he expected. The settlers had done a rather thorough job of wiping down some of the grime that had been on the walls. He’d gotten good at imagining what buildings like these might have looked like before, and he got a sort of warm and comfortable feeling from this one. There was a battered patriotic post on one wall, and he recognized the power armor on it. A noise upstairs caught his attention, though, and piqued his curiosity. He went up the stairs slowly, stopping when he heard obvious sounds of crying. He looked over.

Rose was sobbing into a dirty pillow. Bordering on screaming into it, really- MacCready immediately felt like he was intruding. He turned and slowly started back down the stairs.

“Wait,” she croaked at him. He stopped but didn’t look back at her. “Please.”

MacCready sat on the floor next to her. They sat for what felt like ages. He eventually lit a cigarette. A hand shot out towards him, making Rose’s trademark grabby hand. He handed it over then lit himself one. Rose unfolded herself and shoved the cigarette between her lips.

“You know, these things’ll kill you,” she said. She looked up and stared him straight in the eye.

“What? What are you talking about?” He asked.

“Oh my god you guys don’t even know about cancer, do you?” She sighed. “I mean, do you?”

“I’ve heard Dr. Amari mention it, why?”

“So, people who smoke a lot and for a long time are at risk for cancer in the lungs. It’s how my grandfather died, actually. You’d think I wouldn’t be able to even look at a cigarette. But god damn, all I could think about today was having a fucking cigarette.” She took a long drag and sighed it out. “Listen to me preaching to you. You’ve seen far more than me and here I am acting like the Commonwealth wisewoman.”

“Have you ever been to… whatever the Capital Wasteland was before the war?”

“Yeah! Washington, D.C. Nate’s parents lived down there and I used to love going to the museums. Is the big T-rex skeleton still up in the Museum of History? Is it even the Museum of History anymore?”

“Sort of. It’s Underworld now, and a bunch of ghouls live there now. And, the T-rex is only half up. The mammoth is still up, though.”

“Did you ever get a chance to go to the museum?”

“Once. Most of what I learned about it was through the Lone Wanderer.” MacCready smiled.

“The Lone Wanderer?” Rose asked skeptically. “Who’s that?”

“She was this lady that came out of a vault, like you. And she came to Little Lamplight one day to get into the vault next to us. Something about needing a piece of equipment to complete a water purifier. Funny enough, this originally had something to do with finding her dad, I think? I think I remember Three Dog talking about it, anyway.”

“Wait, who is Three Dog?” Rose raised an eyebrow.

“He does the radio down there. Like Travis does up here but good.” He held out another cigarette but she declined. “Always talks about ‘Fighting the Good Fight’, Didn’t make sense when I was a twerpy twelve-year-old, but I kinda get it now.”

“He sounds like a pretty cool dude. Did you ever get to meet him?”

“Honestly when I was a kid I didn’t even think of him as being an actual person. He was always just this voice on the radio.” MacCready lit the cigarette he had held out to her. “We were just a bunch of scared kids that had to listen to people screaming at all hours. Anything that covered the sound was welcome.”

“That’s terrible!”

“That’s the Capital Wasteland. Commonwealth isn’t much better. Just different monsters way back home. Even of the human variety. Call them different names if you want.”

“I feel kinda bad whining about my own problems, now…”

“No, don’t! I don’t mean this to be like that. You have a totally different set of problems. None of them are better or worse than others. The deathclaws up here are meaner though, for sure.” He cocked his head. “We’ll find Shaun. I promise.”

Rose wiped her tear-streaked face. “I know. Come on, let’s go help with the shacks."


	7. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose is stressed out but trying to adjust

“I know that you’ve only been out about two months… and I can’t even imagine what you’re still going through.” Preston was genuinely sympathetic. “I hope that we have a few good things though?”

“So I didn’t expect to, but I really like brahmin steaks. Especially with some tato cooked up and fried kinda like steak fries. And at least carrots kinda stayed the same. And you guys have a lot of the same food. A hint though, the next time you make some blamco mac- mix in some brahmin milk when you add the sauce. You’ll thank me for it.” Rose grinned. Dogmeat whined next to her. “Oh, and we still have dogs around. And cats. That’s the best part.”

“I never even thought of adding the milk!” Piper lit up. “Nat will love that. Blamco is her favorite.”

“Honestly the clothes are better too. You can only own so many flowered pastel shirts before the sight of them makes you want to ralph. Badass distressed leather is the way to go.”

“I bet the drugs are better, too,” Hancock piped up with a chuckle. “I mean look at me.”

“Yeah, a chem that turns you into a ghoul is way better than cocaine I guess.” Rose quipped. There was no mistaking that she thought Hancock’s previous life choices were… unsavory, but she truly did appreciate his laid back personality most of the time. She playfully punched his arm. “At least it gave us you, right?”

“What’s cocaine?” Hancock was intrigued.

“Un….believable….” Rose shook her head. “Stick to the jet, my dude.”

Cait snickered. The sound was like nails on a chalkboard to Rose but she was trying to be patient with the woman- from what she could tell, it was half a miracle that she was even still alive. She’d put herself to work alongside Sturges and Jackson building shacks at the Starlight Drive-In settlement, often working longer days than either of the other two.

The group proceeded to swap recipes and stories until the sun went down. While most of them were distracted, Rose quietly snuck away into the dark. Dogmeat whined and trotted off behind her. They crossed the little rickety bridge leading to her shack and Rose plopped into the chair just inside the door.

She was startled awake the next morning by an explosion and gunfire. Dogmeat started barking so loudly that the crystal decanter on the side table next to her was ringing. She slid out of her chair, grabbed her pistol and threw open her front door. The settlers were fighting a small group of super mutants, and had actually taken out most of them. She ran over to the center of the neighborhood where Hancock and Cait were back to back laying down a hail of bullets and basically wiping the pavement with mutants. After glancing around quickly, she cautiously ran over to the two of them, firing off a couple of crippling shots on the way. Hancock glanced up at her quickly and nodded.

“Hell of a wake-up call, huh?” Rose crouched next to them. The other settlers had whittled down the numbers to a couple of stragglers…. That were now headed straight for the trio. Rose raised her gun and aimed, but never needed to fire. Cait only fired six shots, and managed to hit each mutant twice square between the eyes. She stood up, looked back at them, and winked.

“You two can thank me later.” She grinned and left them to shake their heads and grin. Hancock looked over at Rose.

“She seems to be adjusting alright.” He sighed. “How have you been settling in?”

“Everyone keeps asking how I am. I tell them I’m alright, and they leave feeling like they’ve done their good deed for the day. Well, I’m not. I’m not okay. None of this is okay. And I feel horrible for saying it’s not okay because all of you live this every day and are doing great. And then I feel selfish. I really am trying to focus on the positive, I promise.”

“What are you doing later tonight?” Hancock asked.

“I don’t have any….” Rose stopped. “Actually, I have an idea. Meet me on the bridge outta here in an hour with a packed bag, okay?”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Come on, hurry up!” Rose took the stairs behind the drive-in screen two at a time. Hancock was in exactly no hurry. “This is sort of a time-sensitive thing.”

“Alright, alright, I’m coming.” He chuckled. “What’s this big plan?”

“It’s not a big plan.” She smiled as the two of them got to the top platform. There were two patio chairs facing west waiting with a small table between them with a cooler on top. “Come sit with me.”

They walked over to the chairs and sat. Rose pointed to the cooler. “So Cait explained what jet does, and I guess it makes colors brighter? So I thought maybe a jet-fueled sunset would be nice.”

“Wait, really?” He looked at her incredulously.

“Yeah, why not?” She grinned. “Just don’t tell the others, okay? This’ll just be a Rose and Hancock thing.”

“A Rose and Hancock thing. Sounds good.”

“Maybe a weekly thing. A weekly positive to look forward to.” Rose grinned and opened the cooler.

“Deal.”


	8. Wrapped up in Books

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and MacCready bring back books from the library

Rose hopped over the corpse of the last super mutant. MacCready looked around and sneered in disgust.

“Yeah, giant lion statues. Good to scare the kids,” he said.

“Oh I used to love these things.” Rose grinned. “I used to come here after school and read for hours and then check out books. Like Daisy used to.”

“I still don’t get the whole returning the overdue book thing.”

“So you used to ‘check out’ books. You would have a library card with your name on it, and you could take home a certain amount. Then you would bring them back and swap them out for more.”

“Hence Daisy’s little mission here?”

“Yep!” Rose smiled “Wanna take some back with us? What do you think everyone would want to read?”

“No clue. Just grab some of everything, I guess.” MacCready picked up a random book on the table next to them.

“Good idea. I need a book about dinosaurs for Preston though.”

“Dinosaurs? Like the T-Rex at the museum?”

“Yeah, it’s a long story. Right after I met him I had to fight a deathclaw and didn’t know it was called that so I called it a dinosaur and THEN I learned that deathclaws are called deathclaws and I had a moment.” She grinned awkwardly. “So yeah maybe a book about dinosaurs.”

“You had to fight a deathclaw right after you met them?”

“Yeah. I’d only been out of cryo for a few hours, and they were stuck in the Museum of Freedom getting attacked by Raiders. It was just a mess.”

“Never a dull moment with you, is it?” He looked at her in a bit of amazement. “I didn’t tangle with a deathclaw for years and even then it was more of a ‘run and hide’ kind of situation. Going head on with one is kind of badass.”

“Technically I stood in a building and unloaded a minigun into it.”

“Nuance.”

Rose laughed heartily. She motioned for him to follow her up the steps. She walked over to one of the non-fiction rooms. For a brief second, she saw the room the way it had looked before. She smiled faintly and went down the first row of bookshelves. “Dinosaurs…. Dinosaurssss…”

MacCready stopped in the doorway and watched her. She went row by row, chucking books at him to put in their backpacks. After about an hour, their bags were full and Rose reluctantly agreed it was time to go.

It had just started to get dark outside and was going to make the perfect cover for their walk back. They kept to the shadows and stayed silent (besides an occasional giggle from Rose). The bags slowed them down a little, but they had relatively no issue getting back to Sanctuary Hills. It was still dark when they crossed the bridge into the neighborhood. They walked along the stone wall until they got to Rose’s bridge.

“So you really do like this shack, then?”

“Oh yeah.” Rose grinned and dropped her bag. “‘Where do you think I want to live, in my old house? Mama Murphy’s taken it over and seems to genuinely enjoy it. Plus, I like the sound of the creek when I go to sleep. It’s like a white noise…. Nevermind.”

“No.” MacCready frowned. “Stop doing that. Stop assuming we won’t understand stuff. Explain it to us and give us the chance to see if we will.”

“I…..” Rose sighed. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I HAVE been doing that a lot. So… white noise machines… they make soft sounds that are supposed to calm you down. Like wind rustling through trees or a waterfall or something like that.” She rubbed her eyes. She walked over to her bed and collapsed onto it. “I’m exhausted. I’m conking out. You’re welcome to stay.”

She was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. MacCready looked around at the inside of the shack. The bed was cozy-looking enough, centered in the left side of the room. There was a small dresser next to it with a grimey Nuka-Cola lamp on top. On the other side of the dresser was an oversized armchair with an ottoman. He glanced over at her. She started snoring softly and he caught a laugh. He plopped down into the armchair and pulled his hat down over his face. Soon after, he also fell asleep.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Oh so this is the dinosaurs you were talking about.” Preston gently thumbed through the book Rose had brought to him. “Oh this one kinda does look like a deathclaw- ‘Tyrann….saurus’?”

“I mean, looking at it now after fighting a deathclaw, there are some differences. Mainly, arms. Like deathclaws actually have them.” Rose chuckled. “We brought back as many books as we could carry that were still legible. Oh! Nick! Here. I read this when I was in college. It’s called The Maltese Falcon. I think you’ll like it. It’s got a detective and all.”

Nick looked actually somewhat intrigued. He held out his hand so that Rose could cheerfully plop a beat-up book in it. He smiled awkwardly but nodded enthusiastically. Rose turned to Cait and motioned for Hancock to come over. She handed a book to Cait.

“So I have a book I think you both would like but I could only find one copy of it so it’s up to you two to figure out who gets it first. It’s called ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.’” She smiled at Cait, who looked sheepish. She lowered her voice. “I’m sorry, did I do something wrong? Oh no…”

“No, it’s just….” Cait flushed. “I’m not a strong reader is all…”

“I’ll help.” Hancock put his hand on her shoulder. “I can read it to you or help you with the words. If you’re okay with that, of course.”

“Um… sure.” Cait smiled. “Just don’t…”

“Tell anyone? I won’t. Promise."


	9. The Milkman of Human Kindness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically, Rose quotes Macbeth incorrectly- I cut out a few words to make it sound better in context.

“You have GOT to be kidding me.” Rose rubbed her temples. She looked back at MacCready for any sort of feedback. He, of course, looked horrified. She looked back at the man and super mutant in front of her. “Okay, run through his with me one more time- Rex, is it?”

“Yes.”

“You came here thinking you could teach Shakespeare to the super mutants and this would somehow civilize them?” She wrinkled her nose. “And out of all of Shakepeare’s works, you thought MACBETH would be the way to go?”

“Yes.”

“Like ‘Glamis thou art, and shalt be what thou art promised: yet I do fear thy nature; it is too full o’ the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way’?”

“Ah! You know Shakespeare?” Rex was delighted.

“I had to read a lot of him in college.” She stared at him. “Why didn’t these super mutants kill you? The Shakespeare obviously didn’t convert them.”

“Honestly, they’ve probably been using my radio broadcast to draw people here to use for their heinous purposes. It’s weighed heavily on me, believe me.”

“But this one- I’m sorry, your name is Strong?”

“Yes. Milk is secret to humans. Mack Beth say milk make humans strong. Stronger than humans. Strong find milk, drink milk. Make super mutants stronger than humans.”

“Riiiiight…. You totally sound like you’re supportive of all of this.” Rose looked skeptical. “Alright, so I guess we should get you two out of here then. To the elevator, then.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Here you go, Mama Murphy.” Rose smiled. “Sturges helped me build the chair you wanted. I hope you like the color.”

“Ah, now that’s a good chair, kid.” Mama Murphy shuffled over to the chair. She ran her hand over the back of it. “You two did good work.”

“Thank you.” She grinned even harder when Mama Murphy actually sat in the chair. “Is there anything else we can do for you?”

“Nah…” Mama smiled. “But you need the sight, again. Gimme some Jet and it can help you.”

“Mama… that shit’s so terrible for you…”

“But you need our help still to find your boy.”

“And we have Nick for that now, the chems are going to kill you.” Rose pleaded.

“The sight will tell me when I need to stop.” Mama held out her hand. “I know I can help you with this, kid.”

“I just gave you chems a couple of days ago.” Rose frowned. “How about this. Will you do me a favor and at least wait a couple of days? Let it get out of your system? And then I’ll come to you.”

The old woman sighed but then smiled. “You have a caring spirit kid. You like helping people. You always have, haven’t you? Even before you went in that box.”

“I try Mama Murphy.”

“You’re not trying. You’re doing. And you’re doing good work.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Why do I have to wear this? This is stupid,” MacCready said, slipping a finger under the blindfold to scratch. “This is asking for us to get attacked.”

“We’re almost there. Calm down.” Rose rolled her eyes. “You’ll enjoy it.”

She steered him carefully around a corner and then jerked him to a stop a few steps later. She could practically feel his annoyance but didn’t care. She lifted his hat and pulled off the blindfold.It took him a moment to focus on what was in front of him but then lit up like a Christmas tree.

“A COMICS store!” He grinned.

“You commented the other day that you like comic books and I immediately thought of Hubris comics. There’s a bonus here, too, but let’s go digging for comics first.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the comics shop. “I don’t know what’s left in here but even if we only find a few things, I’ll be happy.”

“Definitely! I can’t wait.”

The shop was, of course, a complete mess. Racks and shelves were on their sides all over the main downstairs room. The two of them scavenged in silence for a while, digging through every single comic and magazine on the shelves. After about an hour, they’d managed to find three issues of Grognak the Barbarian, an issue of Astoundingly Awesome Tales, and three issues of Unstoppables. MacCready was ready to leave, but Rose put her hand out to stop him. “Not yet.”

They made their way up two flights of stairs, pausing to dispose of a couple of feral ghouls. When they reached the third floor, Rose pointed towards an office in the back of the building. He hesitantly followed her. When they got to the office, MacCready noticed yet another staircase, and Rose bounded up those steps two at a time. Amused, he followed her up and stopped short when he reached the top.

There were three large machines that he didn’t recognize, spaced apart in a triangle. There was a giant backdrop of a city skyline. Standing in front of it was a mannequin in an outfit he instantly recognized.

“The Silver Shroud! This must be where they used to film the old show! Man, I wish I could have seen that. Did you ever watch it?”

“A few times.” Rose grinned. “You know, they’re not gonna need that outfit anymore….”

“Nah, I guess not…. Wait. Are you suggesting we steal it?”

“Is it really stealing if there’s no one here to wear it or for it to belong to?”

“No, I guess not.” MacCready grinned back. “Come on, give me a hand. This is the best day ever.”


	10. I'll Be Your Santa, Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose's favorite holiday is Christmas, and she gets to celebrate with her friends!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point, I'm challenging myself to name as many works as I can with musical allusions!
> 
> Also, I'm having trouble writing Strong, so please don't judge me if it sucks.

Rose pushed her hair out of her face and rubbed her eyes. Tonight, she and her friends were going to swap names for a Secret Santa exchange. Well, after she explained what a Secret Santa was. She was honestly just thrilled that Christmas was still a thing that happened, since it was her favorite holiday.

She checked her Pip-Boy for what must have been the seventeenth time. MacCready had run to Goodneighbor about a delivery job and was supposed to have already been back. She nervously picked at her cuticles. She’d started fretting over her new friends as though they were family and it was actually mildly irritating. Her sister Jenna had teased her when they were younger about how attached she got to basically everyone- friends, bad boyfriends, lab partners…..

Dogmeat trotted over, panting and wagging his tail ferociously. She scratched behind his ears and under his chin. “Oh Dogmeat, you’re such a good boy, aren’t you? Have you made your rounds yet today? I think Cait could use a fluffy hello, and Nick might need some help looking over some case files.”

“Dog soft and squishy. Why humans keep dog?” Strong walked over from the chemistry station.

“We keep Dogmeat because he helps protect us and he makes us happy. You’ve seen him help us fight when we get attacked.” She looked up at Strong. Dogmeat whined. “Humans are squishy too.”

“Humans should be strong like super mutants. They lucky they have milk of human kindness.”

“Kindness makes humans strong? Are super mutants secretly kind and I don’t know about it?”

Strong laughed. Well, the closest thing he had to a laugh. “Super mutants just strong because they are.”

He shuffled off, leaving Dogmeat to look at Rose in confusion and whine again. She chuckled. They sat for a while, Rose watching the settlers bustling about and working on the crops. After about twenty minutes, Dogmeat perked up and barked. She looked in the direction he was alerting and instantly recognized MacCready’s green hat and duster. She patted Dogmeat’s head. “Go on, boy! Go get the others and bring them to me.”

He set off at a run, and Rose headed in the main house that she called “Sturges’ House” because of its proximity to all of the workbenches. He’d affectionately taken up residence in it once the name had stuck. It was more of a social house during the day, however, and the living room had been set up for groups to hang out. She plopped down on one of the couches and opened the little box that had their names. Strong had, of course, declined to participate but the other seven friends had more or less agreed to it. They all trickled in over the next fifteen minutes, and when everyone was seated, she clapped her hands gleefully.

“So with Christmas coming up, you all expressed interest in doing what’s called a Secret Santa. You’re each going to randomly pick a name out of this box. Don’t tell anyone what name you picked. The person you pick is who you have to get a gift for- you’re their ‘Secret Santa’! Strong said he doesn’t want to do it, and Dogmeat is smart, but not smart enough to read names. So. Let’s do this! Cait, you’re first.” She held the box over to her left and Cait pulled out a slip. She passed the box on to MacCready, who picked and passed it to Hancock. Preston was next, followed by Piper, then Nick. Codsworth bobbed excitedly as he awkwardly reached a grip attachment into the box and, after some struggle, pulled out a slip. The box made it back to Rose and she pulled out the remaining name. She wasn’t at all upset that it was MacCready. She instantly knew what her gift to him would be and smiled inwardly. “Just to make sure, no one pulled their own name, did they?”

The group all shook their heads or said “no.”

“Good! Well there are two weeks until Christmas, so get the best gift you can think of for who you picked. We’ll all swap gifts that day, okay? And don’t tell anyone who you picked because then they can figure out who has them via process of elimination, okay? Go. Fly, be free.” The group gradually dispersed. Rose stayed behind to make sure no one swapped at the last minute. When everyone was gone, she looked back down at MacCready’s name in her hand. She couldn’t explain why, but she felt a slight thrill that his name had somehow made it past seven other people to wind up being chosen by her. She chuckled to herself- she knew already that she was going to knit him socks. It was a corny gift, but whenever they went out together, MacCready got his boots soaked without fail, and always had to comment on it. MacCready was the last thing she should be thinking about, but he’d managed to work his way into the back of her mind almost daily. He had never treated her like some precious artifact like the others had, calling her on her shit when needed, but he was always the first one to tell her it was alright. He knew how it felt to have your world snatched away right in front of you, for your dream to go up in smoke in a matter of seconds, and never judged her if she needed a moment or completely lost her mind.

She shook herself out of her thoughts and got to her feet. She checked her Pip-Boy again. It was only 7:30, and she wondered if she would be able to get to Diamond City and back by dawn. She didn’t want to go alone, and anyone she went with would blab….

“Strong!” She whispered to herself. She grabbed her hat and ran out into the street. She looked around wildly until she saw him standing by one of the defense turrets. She jogged down the street until she reached him. “Hey, Strong, I need your help with something and I need you to not tell anyone, okay?”

“Human need Strong help. Strong help human.”

“Perfect, thank you. Come with me.” She smiled up at him. He grabbed his super sledge and faced her. “We’re going to Diamond City.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Oh my god, a super mutant!” Danny Sullivan stood up abruptly, knocking his chair back in a panic.

“He’s fine, he’s with me,” Rose said in a sing-song voice, not even glancing at him. “Come on, Strong.”

They walked out into the Diamond City Market. Everyone in their way froze as they passed. Rose could see in her peripheral that basically everyone with a gun had it pointed towards them, and it actually made her feel like a badass with her super mutant friend in tow.

“Humans scared of super mutants, even when we not fighting.”

“Super mutants have a tough reputation. They like to eat people.” Rose smiled. They rounded Power Noodles to Diamond City Surplus. Percy was waiting there, bobbing enthusiastically.

“Diamond City Surplus! Open twenty-four hours a day. No finer selection in the Commonwealth!”

“Hi… yeah I need yarn? Maybe 6 spools?”

“You’re looking for...yarn.”

“That is correct. Do you have yarn?” Rose suddenly felt very foolish. She had to admit the situation was a little comical. She could only imagine what this looked like- a vault dweller and a super mutant talking to a robot about yarn at one in the morning. She giggled a little.

“Yes. They’ll be three caps a piece and they’re on that second aisle, box five.”

“Thanks.” She retrieved the yarn quickly. She nodded to Percy on the way out and motioned to Strong for him to follow her.

The trip back to Sanctuary seemed to take forever. Rose talked more than Strong, explaining various parts of history. He didn’t have many questions, or even many skeptical responses. He seemed most interested in the Revolutionary War and in the years leading up to the bombs.

“Super mutants work together. Mutants strong together. Humans weak and fight.”

“Honestly, Strong, I have to agree with you. Humanity could accomplish so much more if they didn’t constantly fight with each other.”

They continued in silence. Aside from a spattering of raiders, they remained mostly undisturbed. Much to Rose’s relief, they managed to get back to Sanctuary while it was still dark. Strong agreed not to tell anyone that they had gone to Diamond City, or why. She snuck back to her shack and made sure to lock the door behind her. She didn’t need anyone walking in and catching her knitting MacCready’s gift.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Alright, everyone ready to swap gifts?” Rose grinned. Her friends all nodded in agreement or said ‘yes.’ Dogmeat whined and she scratched behind his ears. “Okay, Cait, youre first! Who did you pull out of the hat?”

“Aye, I had Hancock!” She gave a toothy grin, handing Hancock a messily wrapped bundle. Rose watched eagerly as he unwrapped it.

“Heyyyy, chems! Good chems, too!” He smiled at Rose. “Bunch of jet, berry and orange mentats, and some calmex.”

“Well that’s perfect for you,” she said. She grinned back at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw MacCready frowning, looking between them. Ignoring it, she moved on. She moved a heavy box that was next to her chair. “Alright Codsworth, you’re next. I know what it is and who you have because I had to help you, but for the rest of the class, who do you have?”

“Mum I have Miss Piper.” He bobbed with what seemed like enthusiasm. Rose pointed to the box. Piper leaned over to pick it up.

“Oh, heavy!” She laughed. She carefully unwrapped the paper. Her gift was a set of new pens and a typewriter that Codsworth had spent ages polishing the rust off of. “Oh, Codsworth! This is perfect! I left mine in Diamond City, and this one is way nicer!”

“Glad I could be of service, Miss Piper.”

“Okay next is…. Hancock! Oh boy. Who did you wind up getting?”

“I actually got our buddy Nick here,” Hancock said smoothly. “I cheated a little bit and had Strong help me because there was a lot to carry and we had to go into the city to find them. Hey Strong! It’s time!”

Rose had no idea Strong was hovering outside the door. He ducked through the doorway carrying, of all things, a set of encyclopedias that was only minorly damaged. “Maybe book has secret of milk of human kindness. Heh heh.”

“Well ain’t that a blast from the past!” Nick made some low-pitched whirring sounds that almost reminded her of a cat’s purr. He grinned. “Thank you, Hancock. And Strong, for helping.”

Strong put the encyclopedias down. “Strong has gift for Dog Meat. Meat.”

Dogmeat perked up as Strong turned and grabbed a brahmin leg. He shuffled in and dropped the meat in front of the dog.

“That was very kind of you Strong.” Rose smiled but looked down at the leg, a little grossed out. “Okay what about you, MacCready?”

“Well at first I kinda thought this whole thing was a little silly, but I found this and for some reason it made me think of you so I sto...grabbed it for you.” He gingerly held out a box. “It’s fragile, be careful with it.”

Rose took the box carefully, hearing a slight clink inside. She grinned. She untied the twine and slowly opened the paper. Inside was a number of bundles wrapped in newspaper. She unwrapped the largest one and couldn’t believe what was inside- a pristine ceramic teapot. In awe, she unwrapped each teacup just as slowly and marveled at the whole set when she was done. “Oh, MacCready… I love it! I miss tea on Sunday afternoons. Ooh! Hancock! The Drive-in on Sundays! We can add tea.”

“Sounds good.” Hancock smiled… and MacCready looked deflated. Rose felt a brief pang of guilt but continued.

“Alrighty, Nick. You’re up!” Rose delicately placed the tea set next to her.

“I got Cait. To be honest, I had a little trouble with this but I’m glad I’m n ot the only person who went this way with their gift.” Nick pointed to a box on the coffee table. Cait put down the drink that was on her hand and lifted the lid of the box. She pulled out a bottle of expensive bourbon and a crystal liquor decanter that caught the light and cast rainbows up on the wall behind her.

“Oh this is beautiful, Nicky!.” Cait held the decanter to her chest like it was the most precious thing she’d ever owned. Come to think of it, it probably was. “Is it alright if we share the bourbon for Christmas?”

“It’s your bourbon, hun. You share it if you see fit.” Nick smiled. Cait got up and went into the kitchen to grab some glasses for the group. Meanwhile, Piper was next.

“I got Preston!” Piper grinned. “So it took some digging but fortunately I had some contacts who owed me a favor sooooooo I managed to get ahold of this!”

Preston awkwardly took the package she held out to him. He tore open the paper a lot more impatiently than Rose would have expected from such a level headed person. Inside the wrapping was a gorgeous scarf that was almost the same color as the one he was wearing. Rose could tell it was a high-quality material by the way it caught the light- a silk or satin blend most likely. “Piper this is amazing! I love it. I really do. And I’m guessing I’m next since it looks like we’re going in alphabetical order- I have Codsworth. And I didn’t wrap your gift because I honestly didn’t think to. I learned for next time.

Codsworth bobbed closer and Preston reached behind him and took out a surprisingly nice bowler hat. He spun around as Preston put it on him and bobbed over to examine himself in a mirror.

“Aye, Mum! I think Preston chose a fine gift, don’t you?” Codsworth hovered back over to the group. “And if my calculations are correct, which they very nearly always are, you got sir MacCready.”

Rose flinched slightly at the use of ‘sir’ since Codsworth had never used it in regards to MacCready before, or anyone, in fact, besides Nate. ‘Goddamn perceptive robot’ she thought. She grinned to cover and looked MacCready squarely in the eye.

“Well I don’t know how well my gift holds up to some of these other ones. You guys really delivered for each other and it makes me so happy. I didn’t know what to get you so I made you something, instead.” She picked up the small box next to her. "I figured that you could make use of these."

MacCready’s eyes could have bored a hole in her skull. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen him look so intense before. It wasn’t intense in a bad way, but she still had to break eye contact as he took the package. He opened the box and his eyes widened briefly before he started laughing. Rose’s heart sank. He looked back up at her and smiled as he removed the socks she had knitted. “Now I can’t complain about my boots getting wet anymore, can I?”

“Nope.” She grinned. “You’re stuck slogging across the Commonwealth with me. I mean, if you want. Of course. But you knew that.”

Cait snickered from the kitchen as she poured out seven glasses of bourbon. Rose glared in that general direction. “Cait, how fucking long does it take to pour bourbon?”

“I was busy eavesdropping, piss off.” Seconds later, she came out carefully carrying a beat up tray with seven mismatched glasses full to the brim with bourbon. Everyone took a glass cheerfully, a few of them chuckling at Cait still snickering to herself. Rose could feel her ears burning. She made eye contact with Hancock, who just grinned at her. She shook her head.

“You guys this means a lot to me. I’m glad that we could all be together for my first Christmas out.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

That night, Rose grinned as she walked alone to her shack. Sturges had refurbished some Christmas lights for her that she had put up along the front and she smiled at them as she tipsily made her way across her silly bridge.

“I love my moat bridge,” she muttered to herself. She heard steps in the grass behind her and ignored them. She had a tiny bit of bourbon left in her glass from the third bottle she and Cait had opened. “My best friend.”

“Rose,” a familiar voice said. She stopped, groaned to herself, and turned around. MacCready was standing there, obviously holding something.

“What?” She barked. “Oh that came out worse than I thought, whoops.”

“I…” He paused. “There’s a second part of your gift that I didn’t want to give to you in front of everyone…”

“Cait. You didn’t want to give it to me in front of Cait.” She grinned.

“Mostly her, but really not in front of any of them.” He looked down at whatever was in his hands. “Listen I don’t know what’s between you and Hancock and I don’t want to seem like I’m trying to get between you or anything.”

“What’s between us is on weekends, we go to the top of the drive-in screen and do jet so we can trip while we watch the sunset.” She raised an eyebrow. “I doubt that’s something you’re going to get in the way of.”

“Well here.” He reached out. “This is probably my prized possession and I want you to have it.”  
“I don’t want to take your prized possession away from you….”

“You’re not. I want you to have it.”

She reached out and took the item from him. She looked down and was surprised to see a small wooden soldier that had obviously been hand-carved. She looked back up at him, surprised.

“Lucy made it for me. She never knew I was a mercenary because I told her I was a soldier. I shouldn’t have lied to her but I didn’t want her to know I wasn’t as good of a person as she thought.” He frowned. “You’ve never missed a step with me, never judged me, done nothing but help me… even helped me take care of Winlock and Barnes.”

“I did those things because you’re my friend and I care about you. Of course I helped you with Winlock and Barnes.”

“Still. I’m not used to people having my back. Thank you.”

“And this is a lovely gift. I love it.” She waved him in for a hug. He awkwardly hugged her back. Without thinking, she kissed him on the cheek. She froze and stepped back from the hug. “I…. uh… Thank you. Merry Christmas.”

She turned around on her heel, face reddening. She walked swiftly into the shack and closed the door behind her the slightest bit too loud, leaving a confused MacCready on her bridge. She exhaled slowly. She looked down at the little soldier in her hand and then pressed it close to her chest.

“Ohhhhh what have I done?”


	11. Orange-Colored Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose learns about Cait's past and decides to take it a little easier on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I checked off the "rape-non-con" box only as a head's up and content warning since Cait's past is talked about and while we don't get a lot of details from her in game, it's very heavily implied that she possibly experienced multiple rapes before the Sole Survivor meets her.

It was 2288.

The group didn’t really get the new year being a big thing, so the only celebration that she wound up having was extra tea and Jet time with Hancock, but for a sunrise. Rose had had a bit of a brainfart and inhaled the jet before remembering to turn the chairs around to face the other direction, but it all worked out.

“Man I should have invited Cait.” Rose pouted.

“No loss that you didn’t. Cait doesn’t strike me as a ‘watch the sunrise with friends’ kinda gal.”

“Speaking of whom, how are the reading lessons going?”

“Really well. I don’t really have to help her with words much anymore. Sometimes the bigger ones but she’s basically self sufficient with it.”

“That’s really great! Glad to hear it.” She grinned. “Now be honest. Have you two….you know?”

“What? Where’d that come from?” Hancock chuckled.

“Just call it a gut feeling, I don’t know. You two always disappear at the same time. I mean, I know you’re doing the whole reading lesson thing but it just seems like something that would happen.”

“Listen, we’ve been working really hard on the whole reading lesson thing.” He smirked. “But yeah, a couple of times.”

“I KNEW IT!” Rose squealed with laughter. “I promise I won’t tell anyone though.”

“I mean I don’t care who knows, but she’s oddly private about that sort of thing.” Hancock took another hit of Jet. “She talks a big game but that’s all an act I think to cover…. Well everything.”

“I could see that. I mean when I met her she was getting high and fighting raiders for caps. She was genuinely bummed when Tommy let go of her contract. He technically did so because I killed all of his customers but he also said her Psycho use was becoming a liability. He called her little bird or something oddly cute.”

“How much do you know about Cait’s upbringing?”

“Nothing for sure, but I get the distinct feeling that happy Cait has never really been a thing. Classic self-medication.”

“Well I’ll give you the pleasant version.” Hancock cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. “Her parents beat her as a kid. One of the times she tried to run away, they locked her in a shed. The second time, they broke her leg.”

“Oh my god.” Rose wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“When she turned eighteen, they sold her into slavery. She saved up money, freed herself, killed her parents. She went to work at the Combat Zone. It got taken over by raiders. She started dating one, it went horribly wrong. She’s been fighting, drinking, and drugging since.”

“Why do I have a terrible feeling I know what happened in the cracks in what you just told me?”

“I don’t know for sure what happened to her. I just know what she’s told me.”

“Well…” Rose frowned. “Maybe I should be less of a bitch to her.”

“Honestly, I don’t think anything you do phases her. She was a little surprised that you wanted to do that Christmas thing with her but she’s not used to having friends.”

“I can still try. Maybe I’ll take her out with me more.”

“Maybe.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Cait!” Rose shouted. Cait looked around until she found her.

“What do you want?” She blinked at her.

“I, uh…. I gotta take this locket back to the Abernathy farm. It’s not far. Do you want to come with?”

“I guess. We going right now?” Cait screwed up her face and shielded it with her hand.

“Yeah. I mean, unless you have anything you need to do here.” Rose caught sight of Hancock behind her. He smiled, then kept moving. Cait raised an eyebrow.

“Nope. Nothing to do here, Let’s go. Lemme get me shotgun.” Cait trudged over to the house that she’d taken over. Rose watched for a moment before she looked over at MacCready and Marcy talking and pointing at the mutfruit trees she’d been pruning. She was startled when Cait appeared back at her elbow. “Time to head out?”

Rose nodded. The two women started off towards the farm. Cait didn’t say much, merely nodding or grunting in response to Rose’s babble. When they got to the Red Rocket Truck Stop, Rose trailed off as they hooked a slight right to head towards the farm. The sun was setting and she kind of wished she’d brought Hancock. She clicked on her Pip-Boy radio to fill the silence. She tuned in right in the middle of a Nat King Cole song and started singing along with it, slightly out of tune. To her surprise, Cat chimed in.

“I was walking along, minding my business.. When love came and hit me in the eyeeeee..”

“FLASH, BAM, ALAKAZAM..” Cait shouted.

“Out of an orange colored, purpled striped, pretty green polka dot skyyyy…”

“FLASH, BAM, alakazam and goodbyyyyye…” They finished together and burst into a fit of giggles. Rose eyed Cait.

“I would never have guessed that you like Nat King Cole. Ever.”

“When you hear the same shite over and over on the radio, songs start sticking with you. Me favorite color is orange so it just took.”

“Isn’t it in reference to an atom bomb exploding?”

“How the bloody hell should I know?” Cait chuckled. “If either of us knew it would be you, old-timer.”

“That is a very valid point.” Rose grinned. “Oh, here- this farm coming up is the Abernathy’s.”

“Now what’s the story with this locket or whatever?”

“Raiders attacked the farm and killed the oldest daughter. Stole her locket because they’re fucking animals. Blake asked if I’d bring it back to them for closure.”

“Ah. Well I hope it works.” Cait forced herself to smile and Rose immediately regretted bringing her. She’d managed to forget about Cait’s terrible relationship with her parents.

When they got to the farm, Cait elected to wait outside while Rose brought the locket inside. She was kicking the dirt when Rose poked her head out of the front door.

“Hey Cait, come with me!”

“Why?”

“Just do it. Follow me.” Rose waved her in. Cait reluctantly followed her up the stairs inside the farmhouse until they came out on the roof. “Alright, Blake said we can hang out up here for a bit. Come on, sit with me.”

Cait looked around and awkwardly sat next to her. Rose handed her some Jet and winked. “What….”

“Don’t tell Hancock because this is supposed to be a Rose-and-Hancock thing but I think we can get away with it this once. The Jet makes the colors super vibrant and pretty.” Rose inhaled her dose of Jet and motioned for Cait to do so as well. With both women dosed, they sat back and looked at the sunset.

“Ohhh… an actual orange-colored sky. I dig it.”

“I figured up here was a good place to watch it.”

“Yeah. It is.” Cait smiled sadly and looked over at Rose. “Thanks friend.”

“Any time. Friend.”


	12. Skip the Charades

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter felt like it was impossible to get through. I've been having lot of wifi trouble at the house and I'm on a Chromebook so no internet means no progress.
> 
> The idea for how to manage this came from Frozen 2- I knew I wanted them to play charades because of how Codsworth talks about charades with the Sole Survivor, but this was different than what I originally planned.
> 
> I didn't really know what I wanted this to segue to BUT now that it's posted, I have a better idea. Short chapter, the next one is going to be much better.

“Okay so what are we doing?” MacCready looked equal parts confused and skeptical.

“We’re playing charades, sir.” Codsworth seemed irritated that the group didn’t know what he and Rose were talking about. “It’s a game Miss Rose and Sir and Shaun loved.”

“It’s better with more people, though.” Rose’s ears reddened at Codsworth calling MacCready ‘sir’ again. She accidentally made eye contact with Cait, who merely smirked and took a long swig of her beer.

“So we pick a piece of paper out of Codsworth’s hat and then act it out?”

“Yes, but there are two teams. You’re trying to act it out for your team, and you have to do it quietly. The other team gets to guess, too, though. Most points at the end wins.” Rose smiled. “Codsworth and I are team captains and I’m giving him first pick of teammates.”

“Yes, mum. My first choice is Miss Piper.”

“Wait, really?” Piper looked around, briefly confused. “Awesome!”

“Dammit, Codsworth. Alright, my first pick is Hancock!” Rose stuck her tongue out at Codsworth.

“Mum my second pick is Mr. Nick.” Codsworth bobbed enthusiastically. Nick just nodded.

“I get Cait!” Rose high-fived Hancock and then Cait.

“My final choice is Preston, mum.”

“Really? I’m the last one chosen?” MacCready frowned.

“To be fair you really don’t seem like you’re at all happy to be a part of this so I don’t blame either of them for not picking you,” Hancock piped up. MacCready looked over at Rose, who shifted to look anywhere but at him.

The two teams divided up and sat on opposite sides of the house Rose had turned into a clubhouse of sorts. Dogmeat had joined in, and was holding the hat full of game words while aggressively wagging his tail.

“Codsworth picked his team first so we’re gonna go first!” Rose grinned. “Hancock, you act first.”

“Aww come on, Hancock, you got this!” Cait laughed. Hancock drew a piece of paper and smiled. He tossed it on the floor, then exhaled. He shielded his eyes with his hand like he was searching for something. He then took a dose of Jet out of his pocket, inhaled it, then looked at his wrist. “Oh!! It’s Rose!”

Rose looked at Cait as she erupted in a fit of giggles. Hancock nodded and chuckled.

“Really? You had to do the Jet, too?” Rose also giggled. “Alright our team one. Codsworth, who’s going from your team?”

“Miss Piper!” Codsworth bobbed enthusiastically, but Piper looked a little wary.

“Alright, just gotta act something out…” She walked up to Dogmeat, scratched his head, then took a slip. She looked at her slip quizzically before dropping it. “Oh okay!”

She held her left hand out like she was holding a frying pan. With her right hand, she made a sort of circular motion, occasionally raising the frying pan hand.

“Easy, fishing.” Preston seemed unimpressed. Rose rolled her eyes.

The group went back and forth for the better part of the evening. It was going particularly well until MacCready’s last turn. He read the slip he pulled and he froze. His eyes widened and he instinctively looked at Rose with his mouth half open. “Ummmm…”

“Shocked!” Hancock shouted.

“Concerned?” Piper shrugged.

“Who the hell put this in here?” MacCready was looking increasingly uncomfortable. “I can’t do this.”

“Oh come on, don’t be a quitter!” Cait scoffed. Hancock nodded in agreement.

“Sir, you have to act out what you draw. It’s the rules.” Codsworth’s tone sounded remarkably offended for a robot.

“Yeah this is cheating!” Piper was indignant. MacCready sneered at her and threw the slip of paper on the ground. He stormed off in the general direction of the house he’d taken over as mostly his own. The remaining group looked at each other, obviously judging. Rose, however was curious as to what would have bothered him so much.

“Maybe it was something about ghouls? It’s how his wife died, so I could see him having a visceral reaction like that.” She stood up and walked over to the abandoned paper and picked it up. When she read it, she sighed loudly.

“So what was so bad that mister poor sport had to be dramatic?” Cait smirked. Rose held the paper up so that the others could read it- MacCready had pulled a slip that said “frozen.” They all shifted rather uncomfortably. Piper was the first to speak.

“Man, I’m exhausted. I must have had too much to drink earlier when we got started.”

“Funny you should say that, I was just thinking the same thing myself.” Hancock stood and stretched, forcing a yawn. The others all murmured something similar and slowly dispersed in the directions of their homes. After a few moments, it was only Rose and Codsworth standing (bobbing?) in the empty house.

“Now, mum, I do believe your team edged out mine tonight. You absolutely must allow my team a rematch and see if we can best yours.”

“Oh, of course, Codsworth. Now that everyone’s played, I think they have a better grasp of how it goes.” Rose forced a smile. “But as it turns out I believe I, too, had too much to drink with dinner, and that brahmin steak was probably more than I should have eaten. I’m going to tuck in for the night, but can you do me a few favors?”

“Of course, mum. Whatever you need.”

“There’s a little bit of a spot on the bar wall that needs some polishing so it doesn’t rust, and if you could check the deathclaw eggs and make sure they’re all still good for brunch on Sunday, that’d be fantastic.”

“Your wish is my command, mum.”

“Thank you, Codsworth.” She started to walk off towards her creek house when Codsworth stopped her.

“Mum, would you like me to check on Mr Robert?”

“Ew, okay, so can you please call him MacCready since everyone else does? Yikes.” She shook her head. “And you don’t need to. If you want to then whatever but I think maybe leave him be for tonight. He took that pretty hard."

"Yes, mum.”

"You're going to anyway, aren't you?"

"Yes, mum."

"Thank you, Codwsworth."

"Good night, mum."


	13. Coming of the Knight

Rose absentmindedly turned the wooden soldier that MacCready had given her for Christmas in her hands. Deacon had recently joined their merry band of misfits and was regaling the group with a story of their escapades that was about 70% made up. Cait made eye contact with her and raised an eyebrow. Rose shrugged and gestured for her to pay attention to Deacon.

“And then we get to the main room, right? And Rose is just like… PEW right between a synth’s eyes, and then she spun around and kicked another one’s legs out from under it and then BANG, shot the leg off.”

(Okay, that part was true.)

Piper was on the outside of the group, stirring the pot of stew she and Rose had thrown together. Rose had adjusted to the various Commonwealth critters and no longer cringed at cooking them. She was also still really grateful that carrots had stayed basically the same.

She tucked the toy back into a pocket on her belt. She ignored her knees popping when she got up to go over to check on the stew. She’d become quite a fan of brahmin meat, especially in a stew like this one. She tasted a spoonful carefully. She gave Piper a thumbs up and walked back over to her perch as Deacon was finishing his story. Hancock looked up at her with a silly grin on his face. She swatted him on the shoulder.

“Alright guys, the stew’s done. Piper outdid herself this time.” She caught Deacon’s attention subtly and pointed over to the Nuka-Bunker. As the rest of the group filed over to get some stew, the two of them wandered over to the bar.

“What’s up, boss?”

“I got a weird radio signal on my Pip-Boy. There is a group of people in Cambridge called the Brotherhood of Steel that put out an S.O.S. I didn’t think anything of it before, but MacCready seemed really upset when we saw them at Fort Hagen. What does the Railroad know about them?”

“Nothing, actually. I was going to ask you about it.”

“Damn. Well, I have a proposition for you. Get one of your better disguises, and go with me to see what they need. Maybe we can swipe a holodisk or something and get an idea whose side they’re on.”

“I get the distinct feeling that the Brotherhood of Steel is Team Brotherhood of Steel. Deacon shook his head. “Do you think MacCready knows anything else besides his initially brilliant observation?”

“No, I doubt it. I honestly think he’d have told me by now. He hasn’t put together who you are yet. You’re still so new to everyone. Which is why you’re the perfect person to bring.” Rose glanced over at the group. “Come on, let’s get back to the group before they notice we’re plotting something. Here, help me grab a couple of bottles of booze as a cover. Some wine for sure. Maybe some bourbon for Piper and Cait.”

Rose absentmindedly grabbed two bottles of wine and headed back to the group with Deacon not far behind her. Piper looked up as they approached and grinned at the sight of the bourbon. The others also looked up and smiled. Rose smiled back automatically, her concern still at the back of her mind.

The booze was passed around and the group splintered into smaller, chatty groups. Rose used the opportunity to slip away and go to her shack. The lock clicked in the door behind her. Exhausted, she crawled into bed and dug through the blanket to find the book she’d been reading off and on. It was a murder mystery, not particularly good. It’d been so long since she’d read for fun. She’d technically been frozen for the whole time but when she did read, there was definitely a sort of odd fuzzy feeling in the back of her head.

After about an hour of attempting, Rose realized she just couldn’t concentrate on the words and tossed the book aside. The cover of the book made a cracking sound when it hit the floor. Feeling guilty, she scooted over to lean over the side of the bed and pick it up. She then gently placed the book on her bedside table. Her mother had probably just turned in her grave- she’d always lectured Rose on respecting books. Boy, if she could see what the library looked like after the bombs.

She was startled by the sound of someone trying to open her door. She wasn’t in the mood to entertain anyone, but she was still curious who it was. She waited until she hear the familiar sound of someone stepping on the squeaky board on the bridge leading to her shack. She crept over to a hole in the wall next to her door to see who it was. It was almost pitch black outside but she could see the unmistakable shape of Hancock’s hat. She felt another small twinge of guilt- she knew Hancock had noticed her slip away like she only did when she couldn’t deal with being social. He was probably just checking on her, but she wasn’t in the mood for conversation. She went back to bed and blew out the lantern. She lay awake for what seemed like hours. She eventually fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

A wave of synths swarmed down the stairs and threw themselves on Danse. Rose panicked.

“Deacon, what do I do?”

“Why are you asking me? I say let them have him.”

“Of course you do.” Rose glanced back at him and frowned. She looked around desperately, and her gaze fell on a very obviously placed large red button. “Hey do you think power armor can withstand high temps?”

“Try it, what’s the worst that can happen?”

"Oh my god, Deacon. You’re impossible.” She crossed the room and slammed her fist on the button. The giant Engine Core’s rocket flared up and the force from it made the walls shake. Rose and Deacon dropped to the ground instinctively and stayed there until the roar eventually shut off. She lifted her head and looked over at Deacon. “I really hope we didn’t just start a war with the Brotherhood of Steel because I’m quite sure that they’ve hoarded enough fire power to wipe Boston off the map a second time.”

“If they found out.” Deacon slowly pushed himself off the floor and up to his feet. He helped her up and they leaned over to look out of the control room window. Danse was okay- his armor was scorched but he looked otherwise unaffected. Rose ran out of the room, wading through the scorched synth bodies and over to him. He was out of breath slightly but seemed otherwise fine.

“Are you alright? It was all I could think of to do to get them off of you.” Rose furrowed her brow. Deacon snorted behind her.

“I’m fine, thanks to my power armor.” Danse frowned. “Come on, let’s get out of here. We have everything we need.”

The trio crowded into the now-working elevator. Rose casually glanced back at Deacon, who looked over at Danse. He studied him for a brief moment and then looked back at Rose, giving her a thumbs up. Rose closed her eyes and shook her head. Danse was oblivious to the exchange. When the elevator let them out on the ground level, Danse turned to her and Deacon. Rose cocked her head to the side. Deacon was right, she had to admit- Danse was kind of a looker. She felt him elbow her in the side.

“Citizen, you did well in there. No heroics, you held your own, and you did what you had to do. I would like to extend the offer to you to join the Brotherhood of Steel and the rank of Initiate.”

Rose froze. This was the perfect opportunity, but bound to get around. Still, she couldn’t turn it down. “I’d be honored. Of course,”

“I will be at the Cambridge Police Department building with my team. You can find us there. Ad Victorium.” Danse nodded to them and set off. Deacon frowned.

“Did you really agree to that?” He shook his head in disgust.

“Yes, because now I get a front-row seat to see what they’re up to. It’s obvious that they hate anything that’s not pure human, so I’m assuming they’re here to destroy the Institute and everything else that gets in their way.”

“You joined because he’s cute. Alright, let’s get back to Sanctuary.” Deacon turned and started heading in the correct general direction. Rose’s jaw dropped.

“What? That’s not true!” She hurried after him.

“I saw you looking at him, it’s okay. I understand.” He didn’t look back at her. “I mean he’s more handsome than Doctor Carrington, for sure. Maybe on the same level as Des.”

“I don’t know that I would describe Des as handsome….”

“See?” Deacon pretended to flex his muscles and deepened his voice. “‘It was corporations like this that put the last nail in the coffin for mankind.’ Give me a break.”

“No, he’s a total egotistical idiot. I don’t know why-”

“You still joined up.” Deacon shook his head.

“How else am I supposed to get on that airship?!” Rose’s temper exploded. “What big plan does the Railroad have to get onboard that thing? Or is it not a priority?”

“You still think he’s cute.” He quipped. “But you may be right about the airship. Do you think you can actually play along long enough to get on that thing?”

“I can try.” She frowned.

They walked most of the way back to Sanctuary in silence. Deacon’s annoyance was annoying her in turn. She wasn’t sure why he was acting like he knew so much about the Brotherhood. She was realizing he was a pathological liar, though, so she was guessing this was all for show somehow. For a man whose personality basically revolved around being different people every day, he seemed awfully judgmental of her trying to infiltrate another faction. By the time they reached Sanctuary, she was outright cranky. She didn’t bother to say anything to Deacon, and made a beeline for her shack. Dogmeat was waiting for her out front.

“Hey, buddy!” She smiled broadly. “Wanna come hang out with me?”

He whined and cocked his head. She pushed open the door. He bounded in and jumped up on her bed. She climbed in behind him, making room for him to turn around to face her. He sighed loudly and closed his eyes. He was asleep within minutes. Rose grabbed her book and curled up around him.

She woke up hours later, and it was already dark. “Shit!”

Dogmeat whined and jumped off the bed. She groaned. She climbed out of bed and went to the door of the shack. She could hear the sounds of the settlers mingling and laughing. Her irritation at Deacon was renewed. She leaned against the doorframe, debating whether or not she should go out and join them. Dogmeat, however, needed no convincing. He trotted off, barking happily. She watched him run up to Piper and paw for scraps. Piper, of course, slid something off her plate. She chuckled and pushed off the doorway. She trotted across the rickety bridge and trudged up the hill past the old playground equipment. She heard Deacon roar with laughter and rolled her eyes. She sighed. She came around the corner at “Sturges’s house” and saw most of her band of misfits was seated around the campfire between the house and the Bunker. She almost immediately made eye contact with Hancock, who subtly motioned towards the other bar being built on the cul-de-sac. She nodded and slipped away before anyone else noticed her. Or, she thought. Piper elbowed MacCready and pointed at Rose sneaking away and Hancock getting up to follow her. Cait noticed the exchange and looked up as well.

So much for being secretive.

Rose walked into the bar and sat in one of the chairs she and Sturges had been restoring. Hancock sat in the one next to it.

“Alright, what the hell happened out there?” Hancock handed her a beer he’d brought along.

“So you can’t let this get out yet. Deacon is one of the higher-ups of the Railroad.”

“THE Railroad. Like ‘fuck the Institute we’re gonna save the synths’ Railroad?”

“Yep. But I’m sure you’ve noticed that he’s really into disguises, yes? And he’s the newest one to the group. So I figured he was the best one to take with me to go to the Cambridge Police Station and see if I could figure out what is going on with this Brotherhood of Steel.”

“Solid idea.” Hancock nodded, deep in thought.

“So we blow through ArcJet with him and get the part he’s looking for, and when we get out of the place, he offers to vouch for me if I want to join.”

“That’s the perfect cover to get in that airship and see what the fuck is going on.”

“YES that’s what I said. Deacon got FURIOUS with me though, saying stupid shit like I’m only joining because he’s cute.”

“If you only spent time with attractive companions, you’d get sick of me quick.”

“Funny.” Rose snorted. “I’m pretty sure the others all think we’re fucking anyway.”

Hancock laughed so hard he wheezed. He thumped his chest and coughed. “I mean sex is great but Jet-fueled Sundays are better.”

“I tried to explain them to Codsworth and he didn’t get the appeal, believe it or not.” Rose also laughed.

“So is he?”

“Is who what?”

“Is the new guy cute?”

“The Brotherhood of Steel guy? I mean if you’re into fascism, he’s a catch.”

“So, yes. What have you found out so far about them?” Hancock pulled two doses of Jet from his coat pockets. He inhaled his and held out the other.

“Oh you spoil me, Johnny.” She gladly took hers and inhaled.

“Way to make it weird, Rosie.” He grinned. “So are you still mad at Deacon for being mad?”

“Yes? And no. I feel like he of all people should understand I’m just trying to infiltrate. Even the Railroad leader was talking about finding a way in.”

“Listen. The Brotherhood hates everyone. They hate mutants, they hate ferals, they hate my kind, they hate synths, they hate regular citizens. They’re condescending pieces of shit who come into an area, strip it for parts basically, and then tell the residents that it’s their own fault.”

“I never said they were likable.” Rose sneered.

“No. But you have to rub elbows with these people. You’re going to have to do some pretty problematic stuff so that they think you’re playing their game. Deacon’s upset about the shit you’re gonna have to eat.”

“He doesn’t have to be a dick to me about it.”

“No, but just keep it in mind and be patient with him.”

“How did you become the person who champions everyone around here? First Cait, now Deacon?” She asked.

“Speaking of Cait, I should give you a head’s up.” Hancock shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “She’s talking about getting clean.”

“Good for her! That’s fantastic.”

“Except that apparently Addictol hasn’t been able to do anything, and no doctor’s been able to cure it.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. How is she supposed to get clean? There’s no way she’s going to go cold turkey.”

“There’s a vault…”

“Oh for fucks sake, of course there’s a vault.” Rose rolled her eyes. “Which one, where is it?”

“I don’t know. She didn’t tell me.”

“Terrific. Not you, just.. Vaults.”

“No, I’m totally terrific.” Hancock beamed.

“Yeah, I guess you are.”


	14. Hear You Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some awkwardly timed FLUFF- absolutely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was really hard for me to put this together like this. I went around and around for WEEKS about whether this would be the official start of the relationship or not but kept coming back to yes.

Rose straightened her hair in the mirror. Nate chuckled and stood back, watching her in the reflection. She blushed a little and touched up her lipstick. In the other room, Sean started crying. She sighed, put down the lipstick, and walked into the baby’s room.

Sean instantly calmed down when she entered the room. She walked over to tickle him, and spun his mobile for him. Nate came in behind her.

“I was thinking later that we could go for a walk in the park?”

“That’d be great. I was hoping to carve pumpkins at some point, too. Me and my boys.”

“Codsworth also said he would watch Sean for a bit for adult time.” Nate gave her an exaggerated wink, which made her laugh.

“Sounds good, babe.”

“Mum! Sir!” Codsworth’s panicked voice sounded from the living room. Rose ran into the room. On the TV was the news she’d hoped she’d never hear….

“Followed by… hit.. Followed by…. We’ve lost contact with our DC affiliate…” The screen went to static. The sirens outside sounded, leaving Rose stunned for a moment. Nate ran into the room with Sean wrapped up in his arms.

“The… the vault. We have to get to the vault.” Rose was hit with a wave of nausea. They threw the door open and ran outside to join the rest of the neighborhood fleeing for their lives. Rose and Nate followed the line of soldiers and military vehicles lining the street. She recognized the little creek bridge they were directed to.

“Keep going. I got Sean. Keep going.” Nate sounded like a complete wreck. Rose didn’t look bck until they reached a chain link fence holding back a crowd of people. The Vault-Tec salesman that had literally signed them up just moments ago was being kept out. A soldier with a clipboard gestured for Rose and Nate. They squeezed through the crowd and a soldier in power armor with a minigun walked them up to the top of the hill. Waiting for them was a giant round platform. They got on the platform and Nate looked over at her. “We made it, we’re fine.”

Directly behind Nate, the world ended. A bomb hit and the force was coming at them fast. The elevator started to descend just as they were hit with a powerful gust of wind full of smoke and ash. Rose screamed.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rose awoke to being gently shaken by MacCready. Startled, she backed away from him quickly.

“It’s alright, you’re alright.” MacCeady knelt next to her bed. “What happened?””

Rose was having trouble breathing. Her eyes watered and she put her hand over her mouth. MacCready gently reached for her other hand. She gave it to him hesitantly. Then, the tears started flowing uncontrollably. He tugged on her hand gently and she let him pull her towards him. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her until she stopped shaking. He pushed hair out of her face and leaned back a little bit. She sniffled. She looked up at him sadly. “It was the bombs. I saw the bombs. And them lowering us into the vault.”

“You saw Nate again, didn’t you?”

“Yes. But at least it wasn’t…. Well. That. Not that I need a nightmare to see that whenever I don’t want to.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Well if any of our merry band of misfits understands it’s you.” She smiled through a tear-streaked face. “Funny that we should find each other somehow, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is.” He smiled back.

“Is it weird if I ask you to stay here?” She shrank back when he looked uneasy. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t put that pressure on you like that.”

“No, it’s fine. If you’d like me to stay then…. I would like me to stay? That sounded much better in my head.” He shook his head. “Sure, I’ll stay.”

“Did I wake up the whole settlement?”

“Only a few of us.” He sat up on the bed.

“Oh, no. They’re all going to think I’m nuts.”

“No!” MacCready put his hand on her arm. “It’s not like that. Most of them know what’s going on."

“And you just happened to hear me shrieking?” Rose grinned.

“I was outside smoking.” MacCready reached into his pocket and tossed his pack of cigarettes at her.

“I believe you!” She smiled and swatted them away from her.

MacCready grabbed the cigarette pack and put it back in his pocket. Rose grinned mischievously. Her hand darted out and she poked him on the nose. She was not, however, expecting him to catch her hand in his. They locked eyes and she relaxed her hand. He leaned towards her a little.

“Is it okay…. Can I....?” He lifted her chin with his other hand.

“Yes.” Her lips parted slightly. MacCready leaned the rest of the way and kissed her, far more gently than she would have ever expected from him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her up against him snugly. She leaned onto him. “MacCready are you… sure?”

“Am I sure about what?”

“Sure about... me.” She sighed. He ran a hand up into her hair, pulling her head back slightly. He squinted as if he were somehow examining her. He leaned in for another kiss, dragging it out as long as possible, then looked directly into her eyes.

“Absolutely.”

**Author's Note:**

> I was describing deathclaws to a friend who doesn't game and for some reason the t-rex from Jurassic Park is what came to mind, so I had to put in a reference to dinosaurs, esp since there is a skeleton in the Museum of Natural History in Fallout 3.


End file.
